


Word of the Day

by Silently_Fleeting



Category: Naruto
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-06
Updated: 2015-03-11
Packaged: 2018-03-16 15:24:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 2,825
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3493361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silently_Fleeting/pseuds/Silently_Fleeting
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Drabble series where I take the word of the day from Merriam-Webster and write a short story based off of it. Mainly Naruto and Sakura, but may extend to the rest of Team Seven. Rated T because I don't know what will happen.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Eolian

**Author's Note:**

> Word: Eolian |ee-OH-lee-un| adjective  
> Meaning: Borne, deposited, produced, or eroded by the wind  
> Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Naruto could admit he was very hyper as a kid. He remembered rushing head-long into any and all fights he came across when he was twelve, shouting insults and yelling his favorite jutsu at the top of his lungs (Sakura would point out that he did so well into his late teens and still does on occasion). He also remembered that he would incessantly beg Kakashi-sensei to teach him “cool new jutsu” so he could go on missions to “rescue princesses” and be “a total badass that was acknowledged and loved by all.”

…But that was when he was twelve and despised by many.

Naruto’s remembers Asuma’s lessons and tips on manipulating Wind Nature chakra, and doubts that he will ever forget. He realized a few things while he was practicing cutting the waterfall: if he was taught anything nearly as complicated as what would turn out to be one of his most terrifyingly destructive jutsu, he would have been severely handicapped from overuse and over exertion of his chakra system because of his recklessness, or he would have probably destroyed half of Konoha chasing down that infernal cat Tora.

Because of that, Naruto is happy that his teachers saw that potential and decided against teaching him anything too powerful (besides Jiraiya teaching him Rasengan). He is also happy that his teachers trusted him enough to teach him what they did when they did.

…But that was when he was sixteen and needed something big and powerful to help take out the “immortals” of the Akatsuki.

Naruto didn’t experiment with his wind chakra for a few years after the Fuuton: Rasenshuriken was deemed kinjutsu for causing massive harm to the user. Naruto himself had taken an unexpectedly long time to recover from it, even with the Kyuubi. He started up his wind chakra training again when he was nineteen and had nothing too pressing to handle. He started by having a clone jump through trees to get leaves to fall while another clone threw pebbles and rocks up in the same area. The initial idea was to throw wind senbon at the falling items and pierce them on their decent.

He decided that he needed to refine the technique after blowing the tree behind the targets to sawdust on the first attempt. He refined it to the point he could do it when he barely glanced at the items but still hit all of them with precision. That is where he hit a bit of a wall. He figured he would improvise with this skill in battle, but he couldn’t think of really any use for the skill since he was a close to mid-ranged combatant and didn’t do well with too much distance. So he talked to Sakura to see if she had any ideas.

Sakura, being the bookworm that she was, suggested reading about landforms and how they were etched into the way they are today. She also suggested that he read carefully over the caves section, because with the wind jutsu, he might be able to figure out a way to help find shelter in some areas.

…So that is how he found himself looking at a geography book while focusing his wind element into sculpting an eolian cave in a massive boulder in such a way that made it look as if it was eroded naturally and not eroded by someone who was bored.


	2. Dyspepsia

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word: Dyspepsia |dis-PEP-shuh| noun  
> Meaning: Indigestion; or ill humor: disgruntlement  
> Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

It was no secret that Team Seven ate at Ichiraku Ramen at least three times a week while in the village on break from missions. It was hard not to know when a blond clad in orange could broadcast it across the village with only his voice, incessantly talking about which flavor of ramen he was going to get today, variety was the spice of life after all (Sakura would be sure to hit Naruto for saying that since seventy percent of what he ate was ramen. The other thirty percent was a mix of field rations and random healthy foods that Sakura threw at him).

It was also fairly common knowledge that Naruto was not completely unaffected by eating ramen (with various flavors!) all the time. While he could flatulate on command (the time when he knocked Kiba and Akamaru out of a tree comes to mind), he also cannot control it at times (Kiba was the poor unfortunate soul who took that full force). Generally thought, he was able to keep it under wraps.

Kakashi trained himself from a very young age to do two things: eat quickly and eat anything. The former was to avoid anyone from seeing his face because he overheard his late mother say he was going to be quite the lady killer when he was older. He started wearing a mask on his lower face as soon as he could find one in his size. He was three at the time.

The unfortunate part of eating quickly was that he would often end up with dyspepsia. It took a couple years to master the quick eating art, and a few more years to figure out he didn’t want girls staring at him more than they already did, so he kept the mask that became his signature look.

The latter of the two things is because Hatake Sakumo could not cook anything but continuously tried anyways. Since he was the only family Kakashi had left, he stomached it for the remainder of his father’s life. The worst think his father made was only surpassed by the Curry of Life Naruto brought back after he took a mission with Gai’s team.

One of Sakura’s best kept secrets is why she eats what she does. When she was younger she had often gotten sick from eating just anything. It wasn’t that she was allergic, but it was the combination of the foods that didn’t sit well with her. Her mother helped figure out what foods her body handled well and steered Sakura to those foods when shopping together. When some of her academy friends asked her about some of the foods that she had in her bento, she told them that she was on a diet. They, however, assumed she meant a weight loss diet instead of one to prevent her from getting sick.

In hindsight, she probably should have clarified it, but before she knew it, every girl who fawned over Sasuke was on a diet, stating they were going to be the thinnest. Only a handful of people know of her predicament, so she continues to avoid certain foods while eating healthy and dodging curious questions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Two days down, seems like a good start. They really do pick some odd words for the word of the day. Until next time.  
> Hope you have an amazing day,  
> Silently Fleeting


	3. Fatidic

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word: Fatidic |fay-TID-ik| adjective
> 
> Meaning: of or related to prophecy
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

As much as he would argue otherwise, Naruto’s teenaged life revolved around prophecies. He was trained by the Toad Sage, just as was foretold, and he saved the world, just as the child of prophecy was to do. He never was fond of the idea of fate (irritated by the word and spiteful of the theory) but the more he looked at his life and the more he learned of his heritage, the more he realized that some things may be fatidic. Even if they were not foretold by a prophet or a seer, Naruto could find instances in his life that he thought would have happen the same no matter what events happened differently.

One thing he realized is that he, or someone related to him by blood, would have ended up with the Kyuubi. When he met his parents, he realized that they would never want to burden anyone with that big of a responsibility, so, in their desperation, they gave it to Naruto, knowing that it would be hard, but also knowing that he would be able to handle it. Even if they had survived, he would have ended up with it, and if it wasn’t released, Kurama would have stayed within their family.

Kakashi decided that he should have realized that the deaths of his parents when he was younger might have foreboded the many deaths that would have followed in his thirty something years. He did shy away from getting to close to anyone at the time, but there were those few who wiggled their way into his heart. Maito Gai was one of those few who wiggled… of maybe it was the eyebrows that did the wiggling. Kakashi enjoyed their “eternal rivalry” as Gai called it, but he shows said enjoyment by acting oblivious to Gai’s speeches, which throws the latter into talking about Kakashi “being so hip” and all that nonsense.

One of the scariest moments, not that he would admit, was when Gai uttered those four words to open the last gate, removing all bodily walls that limited movement, flexibility, and chakra useage. Kakashi figured that Gai would go out like this, over the top ridiculous with power radiating off of him, but it still hurt all the same. He watched with sad fascination as his friend unleashed his ultimate abilities and tore Madara a new one. Kakashi watched as the last of the power faded from his friend and he collapsed on the battlefield, barely breathing as his body destroyed itself from overexertion. The pang in his heart faded when Naruto arrived, saving Gai, his best friend and brother-in-arms, from certain death.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Had some stuff come up earlier today, so it is a bit later than when I originally planned to post this… Ah well, at least I got it done!
> 
> Have an amazing day,
> 
> Silently Fleeting


	4. Apple-Polish

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word: Apple-polish |AP-ul-pah-lish| verb
> 
> Meaning: to attempt to ingrate oneself: toady; to curry favor with (as by flattery)
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

The only time Naruto heard the term apple-polish was when Sakura was complaining about having to help Tsunade with the political aspects of the Hokage job, specifically dealing with the old bats known as the village elders. He had looked at her with such a confused expression that she had stopped her rant midway through and asked what was wrong. He assured her that everything was fine and that he was just confused by the term. She plopped down next to him with a sigh.

“Remember how I was in the Academy?” she asked. “I was consistently getting the highest marks for everything, as long as it was book work. Always knowing the answers the teachers were looking for, always volunteering for the menial tasks the teachers would sometimes need one of us to run… Placing a polished apple on the teacher’s desk, apple-polish.” She sighed again. “Basically, Naruto, a suck up, and the village elders expect everyone to roll over and not question their judgment. I’m not saying their judgment is wrong, I just am getting annoyed with that arrogant air they have about them.”

“Like Kiba arrogant, or Sasuke arrogant?”

“It’s leaning more towards Sasuke arrogant with the sneers they have.” She said thoughtfully as she pushed herself up to stretch. “It is the basic premise of a politician: who can you suck up to now to get ahead later.” She looked over at him, sizing him up. “You sure you can handle being Hokage when you have to deal with people-pleasers and annoying Village elders who nag about things? Not to mention all that paperwork...” She gave him an impish grin as she pulled him up into a standing position and gave him a pat on the back.

“I can handle it, dattebayo!” He said loudly as she jumped away to start their spar.

“Glad to hear it!” she hollered back. “Make sure you are firm in your standings or people will walk all over you. There will be people who try to take advantage of you; they come out of the woodwork when shit starts hitting the fan. I’ve seen many people try to get to Tsunade-shishou, and it doesn’t work out in their end.”

“Any other advice for me, Politician-chan?” He teased before ducking under her fist that shattered the tree behind him. Her eyes were narrowed into slits glaring daggers at him.

“Yeah, many mind games are played in politics; we need to get you to see when these games are being played and how to counteract them.” She dodged the blow and strategically got closer, to the point that her face was nearly touching his, only a hair’s breathe away. His eyes widened, then a slight smirk spread on his lips.

“Sakura, are you flirting with me?”

“I’m showing you how close they can get,” She whispered in his ear, “sometimes even closer.”

“You almost kissed me.” She jumped back a bit.

“Some people have no morals when it comes to getting what they want. The will stoop to such means as seduction.” Naruto looked aghast.

“That won’t work on me, Sakura-chan. I only have eyes for one girl and that is you.”

Sakura chuckled, “Apple-polish will get you nowhere, Naruto.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading. I’m glad to get this one up earlier than the one yesterday, and I hoped you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed trying to write it. They do pick some really interesting words, some of them are hard to get an idea of what to write about. Anyway.
> 
> Have an amazing day,
> 
> Silently Fleeting


	5. Panjandrum

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word: Panjandrum |pan-JAN-drum| noun
> 
> Meaning: a powerful personage or pretentious official
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Team Seven did not take many missions after the Fourth Great Shinobi War. This was mainly due to Kakashi being named next Hokage, and also not many missions after the war required the team’s specific skill set. While Naruto had become arguably one of the best sensors due to his Sage Mode, the team just was not cut out for tracking missions. In fact, the only missions they seemed to get were the ones where Murphey’s Law was in full effect. As it was the norm, Team Seven got adept at improvising missions quickly. Like the time they stopped an apocalypse when harvesting potatoes (Naruto thought it would be as good a time as any to try out exploding his bunshin. He got a bit too close to a half empty gas can).

Sakura is stumped as to how she managed to survive growing up in Team Seven. So many missions that took a wrong turn and ended with an S-Class missing-nin fight. (This doesn’t even include their first Chunnin Exams). Many would say that Sakura started to form a mission’s mask that wouldn’t let too many emotions show in extreme duress, but they were in fact wrong. Sakura never really hid her emotions while in the field; she just got way to use to the ridiculous things that happened on basically all her missions that she stopped caring.

Sakura actually remembers one mission where things did not go to hell in a handbasket. She was escorting a nobleman from Yugakure to Konohagakure with minimal difficulty. The down side to that mission was that almost everything about this man annoyed her. He was a panjandrum. He was chauvinistic about social classes, gender, and social classes by gender. He had flirted with her for the first part of the trip (She would normally be flattered from being flirted with, but when he insulted her gender and her profession, she was very close to letting her temper out), but then some bandits attacked. He looked at her in particular, looking like he was about to yell to her to take cover, when she uprooted a tree and proceeded to use it as if it weighed nothing, swinging it with the dexterity one would swing a bo staff.

The nobleman didn’t look at her for the rest of the trip, and she remembers the little smirk she wore as she reported to Tsunade.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading. I felt like I could have done a bit better with this one, but I think it turned out decently. Another day done, a new chance tomorrow, I suppose.
> 
> Have an amazing day (or what’s left of it),
> 
> Silently Fleeting


	6. Lucrative

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word: lucrative |LOO-kruh-tiv| adjective
> 
> Meaning: producing wealth: profitable
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Sakura was nineteen when she joined the ANBU Hunter-nin Corps. She tried out for the corps because she had felt the strain of being cooped up in the village hospital for far too long without getting out in the field and “enjoying her springtime of youth!” as Lee would put it. So she went out on a limb and was quickly accepted into the fold.

Sakura soon found out that Konoha had the highest loyalty rate of any of the major hidden villages. There were only a handful of missing Konoha nin, and most of those that were, were considered MIA and assumed dead. She also found that Hunter-nin, while their main purpose was to keep the secrets of the village by dispatching any who ran away, they also dabbled in the art of stealing secrets from other villages. As it was a time of peace between the Five Great Ninja Villages, the hunter-nins were mainly used for cleaning up the missing-nin section of the Bingo Book. If she was not affiliated with a village, her job description would be considered that of a bounty hunter.

For the next two years Sakura made a name for herself within the Corps as Daiyamondoburedo no Sakura, much to her embarrassment. Soon after whispers of this nickname started, the words reached Naruto who was training to become Hokage and starting to get a feel for where all the ninjas that were soon to be under his command were placed. The first and last time Naruto teased Sakura about her newfound nickname, she had not so subtly threatened to show exactly how she had gotten the nickname by using the ability to remove a certain appendage from his body. He never said a word about it after.

When Sakura was twenty-one, she took back her position in the hospital. She had found that, while field work was fun, her calling was to save lives rather than take them. The only thing she would admit to missing about the job was the pay. It had been a very lucrative two years.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading. I feel like I failed my little challenge to myself because I did not get this done before midnight. Oh well, I got it done hopefully do a better job on the next round.
> 
> Have an amazing day,
> 
> Silently Fleeting

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading. This is hopefully the beginning of a daily drabble series for Naruto based off the word of the day on Merriam-Webster.  
> Hope you have an amazing day,  
> Silently Fleeting


End file.
